(MINNEAPOLIS STAR TRIBUNE) DFL state Rep. Ryan Winkler came under withering criticism Tuesday for describing the U.S. Supreme Court’s only black member as “Uncle Thomas.”

Winkler, of Golden Valley, fired off an angry tweet after the high court’s 5-4 decision to void a key portion of the Voting Rights Act: “VRA majority is four accomplices to race discrimination and one Uncle Thomas.”

Challenged by angry conservatives on Twitter, Winkler, a Harvard-educated attorney who has served four terms in the Legislature, initially claimed that he didn’t realize “Uncle Tom” was considered a racial slur.